Lobster dish takes club dining awards to a new level
The public’s votes have been counted and the winners of the 2023 Your Local Club Perfect Plate Awards have been revealed.
Bankstown Sports Club’s Land & Sea dish — a creative combination of crispy pork belly, grilled lobster tail, corn salsa, a broccolini lollipop, red coral tuile and lobster sauce — took out the top spot in the competition’s ‘large club’ category. Kiama Leagues Club scored the top gong in the ‘medium club’ category with their hearty Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder with Cauliflower Puree, and Towradgi Park Bowls & Recreation Club’s melt-in-your-mouth Red Wine Braised Beef Short Ribs earned them first place in the ‘small club’ category.
The three state-wide winners and 13 regional winners were announced at the Perfect Plate Awards Night held at Norths Cammeray on Tuesday, 1 August.
From Broken Hill to Batemans Bay, 174 eateries from 146 clubs right across NSW created a special competition dish for their menu, with members and patrons invited to score the meals out of five and cast their votes between 30 May and 9 July 2023.
An estimated 80,000 Perfect Plate dishes were purchased by delighted diners, with the competition’s ambassadors — celebrity chefs Matt Moran and Courtney Roulston — visiting nearly 50 participating clubs to meet the competing chefs and taste their creations.
“I tried everything from a delicious duck pie with a mushroom ragout to an incredible beef brisket that had been slow cooked for 16 hours and served with locally sourced roasted veggies,” said Moran.
“I was so impressed with the quality of the Perfect Plate dishes, and as someone who started their own career in a Western Sydney club, it was fantastic to see so many passionate — and in many cases very young — chefs honing their craft in their local club and expressing themselves through their cooking,” he said.
Courtney, who began her career at Putney “bowlo”, equally enjoyed her culinary tour of NSW clubs.
“Club food has come such a long way in the last decade. They still serve up traditional Sunday roasts and the like, but they offer so much more now, from hand-made pastas and dumplings to fresh, locally caught seafood that’s perfectly grilled,” she said.
“I was surprised with how many seafood dishes and vegetarian options clubs had on offer too — there really is something for everyone on the menu at their local club these days!”
Newly appointed ClubsNSW CEO Rebecca Riant said Perfect Plate, now in its third year, was an opportunity to shine the spotlight on club dining and the dedicated chefs that work in the industry.
“Congratulations to the three state-wide winning clubs and the 13 regional winners — from the kitchen staff to the marketing teams, you should be enormously proud of your efforts,” said Rebecca.
“I’d also like to thank our ambassadors Matt and Courtney for doing such a fantastic job promoting the competition, as well as everyone who showed their support for their local club by voting for a Perfect Plate dish.”
Diners could only vote for each Perfect Plate dish once, but they were encouraged to taste as many competition dishes at as many NSW clubs as possible to boost their chances of winning a prize. A $100 dining voucher was given away every day of the competition, while the two diners who voted for the most Perfect Plate dishes will each win a ‘foodie getaway’ for two valued at over $3,000. The two winners will be announced later this month.
To find out more about the Your Local Club Perfect Plate Awards visit perfectplate.com.au.
Clubs NSW. 2nd August 2023
